Pianist Clara Yang and visual artist Xuan combine artistic forces in a multimedia performance that explores the evolving relationship between humanity and technology. This program highlights the work of contemporary American composers such as Reena Esmail, Christopher Cerrone, and Philip Glass and is combined with Xuan’s visual commentary to create an immersive theatrical experience that invites audiences to rethink the boundaries between human and machine. Ex Machina was developed in part during a Baryshnikov Arts Residency.
Program:
REENA ESMAIL Crystal Prelude No. 1
with Cryoacoustic Orb Sound Installation by Lee Weisert and Jonathon Kirk
LEE WEISERT Clinamina
CLARA YANG Nebula
YVETTE YOUNG, CLARA YANG Conception
PHILIP GLASS Etude No. 11
LILIYA UGAY Hammers Over the Moon
PHIL YOUNG RoboDream
ALLEN ANDERSON Think That’s You—A Personality Recognition Software Toccata
STEPHEN ANDERSON Drones
CHRISTOPHER CERRONE Hoyt-Schermerhorn
All details subject to change.
Clara Yang (Pianist/Composer/Project Creator/Producer) has performed on major stages worldwide, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, and the National Auditorium of Music in Madrid. She has been featured on prominent series such as Carolina Performing Arts and Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series. She currently serves as Head of Keyboard Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. A charismatic performer, she has been praised for her “breathtaking technical prowess” (CVNC) and “probing emotional depth and daring individuality” (Peninsula Reviews).
As a soloist, Yang has performed with renowned conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy and Long Yu, with orchestras such as the European Union Youth Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Madrid, and North Carolina Symphony. Her solo album Folding Time (Albany Records) won a Global Music Award Gold Medal.
A dedicated advocate for new music and interdisciplinary work, she performed the world and U.S. premieres of Chen Yi’s piano concerto Four Spirits, and she performed in the Complete Glass Etudes concert alongside distinguished artists including Philip Glass and Timo Andres. Yang has collaborated with leading artists such as pianist Aaron Diehl, rock guitarist Yvette Young, hip hop artist Suzi Analogue, and new media artist Xuan.
Xuan (Visuals) is a new media artist, filmmaker, and pianist working at the intersection of music, visual art, and technology. A trained classical pianist with a passion for “visual music,” she actively develops innovative, cross-disciplinary projects that broaden the immersive scope of new music and performance. Driven by themes such as femininity, power, alienation and multicultural identity, her work encompasses abstract scenography, experimental film, interactive installations, and public art.
Her work has been seen at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (Chicago), the Smithsonian Museum of Art (Washington D.C.), Baryshnikov Arts (NY), Constellation (Chicago), SFJAZZ (San Francisco), Le Poisson Rouge (NY), Design Biennale 2019 (Zürich), the RESCUE Residency in Santo Stefano di Magra (Italy), Sound Forms 2021 (Hong Kong), ibug Festival für Urban Kunst (Saxony, DE), Ad Astra Music Festival 2020 (Virtual/Kansas), the Mizzou International Composers Festival 2021 (Missouri), CAP UCLA’s Tune In Festival 2021 (Virtual/California), the MATA Festival x Found Sound Nation 2023 (NY), the Ojai Music Festival 2024 (CA), and the Experimental Media Performing Arts Center at RPI (Troy, NY).
This performance forms part of Carnegie Hall’s United in Sound: America at 250 festival.
Etude #11 by Philip Glass
© 1999 Dunvagen Music Publishers Inc. Used by Permission.
Photo courtesy of the artists.